Hosea 11: 1 - 14: 9
| 1“When Israel was a child, then I loved him, |
| and called my son out of Egypt. |
| 2They called to them, so they went from them. |
| They sacrificed to the Baals, |
| and burnt incense to engraved images. |
| 3Yet I taught Ephraim to walk. |
| I took them by his arms; |
| but they didn’t know that I healed them. |
| 4I drew them with cords of a man, with ties of love; |
| and I was to them like those who lift up the yoke on their necks; |
| and I bent down to him and I fed him. |
| 5“They won’t return into the land of Egypt; |
| but the Assyrian will be their king, |
| because they refused to repent. |
| 6The sword will fall on their cities, |
| and will destroy the bars of their gates, |
| and will put an end to their plans. |
| 7My people are determined to turn from me. |
| Though they call to the Most High, |
| he certainly won’t exalt them. |
| 8“How can I give you up, Ephraim? |
| How can I hand you over, Israel? |
| How can I make you like Admah? |
| How can I make you like Zeboiim? |
| My heart is turned within me, |
| my compassion is aroused. |
| 9I will not execute the fierceness of my anger. |
| I will not return to destroy Ephraim: |
| for I am God, and not man; the Holy One amongst you; |
| and I will not come in wrath. |
| 10They will walk after the LORD, |
| who will roar like a lion; |
| for he will roar, and the children will come trembling from the west. |
| 11They will come trembling like a bird out of Egypt, |
| and like a dove out of the land of Assyria; |
| and I will settle them in their houses,” says the LORD. |
| 12Ephraim surrounds me with falsehood, |
| and the house of Israel with deceit. |
| Judah still strays from God, |
| and is unfaithful to the Holy One. |
| 1Ephraim feeds on wind, |
| and chases the east wind. |
| He continually multiplies lies and desolation. |
| They make a covenant with Assyria, |
| and oil is carried into Egypt. |
| 2The LORD also has a controversy with Judah, |
| and will punish Jacob according to his ways; |
| according to his deeds he will repay him. |
| 3In the womb he took his brother by the heel; |
| and in his manhood he contended with God. |
| 4Indeed, he struggled with the angel, and prevailed; |
| he wept, and made supplication to him. |
| He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us, |
| 5even the LORD, the God of Armies; |
| The LORD is his name of renown! |
| 6Therefore turn to your God. |
| Keep kindness and justice, |
| and wait continually for your God. |
| 7A merchant has dishonest scales in his hand. |
| He loves to defraud. |
| 8Ephraim said, “Surely I have become rich, |
| I have found myself wealth. |
| In all my wealth they won’t find in me any iniquity that is sin.” |
| 9“But I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt. |
| I will yet again make you dwell in tents, |
| as in the days of the solemn feast. |
| 10I have also spoken to the prophets, |
| and I have multiplied visions; |
| and by the ministry of the prophets I have used parables. |
| 11If Gilead is wicked, |
| surely they are worthless. |
| In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls. |
| Indeed, their altars are like heaps in the furrows of the field. |
| 12Jacob fled into the country of Aram, |
| and Israel served to get a wife, |
| and for a wife he tended flocks and herds. |
| 13By a prophet the LORD brought Israel up out of Egypt, |
| and by a prophet he was preserved. |
| 14Ephraim has bitterly provoked anger. |
| Therefore his blood will be left on him, |
| and his Lord will repay his contempt. |
| 1When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling. |
| He exalted himself in Israel, |
| but when he became guilty in Baal, he died. |
| 2Now they sin more and more, |
| and have made themselves molten images of their silver, |
| even idols according to their own understanding, |
| all of them the work of the craftsmen. |
| They say of them, ‘They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves.’ |
| 3Therefore they will be like the morning mist, |
| and like the dew that passes away early, |
| like the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing floor, |
| and like the smoke out of the chimney. |
| 4“Yet I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt; |
| and you shall acknowledge no god but me, |
| and besides me there is no saviour. |
| 5I knew you in the wilderness, |
| in the land of great drought. |
| 6According to their pasture, so were they filled; |
| they were filled, and their heart was exalted. |
| Therefore they have forgotten me. |
| 7Therefore I am like a lion to them. |
| Like a leopard, I will lurk by the path. |
| 8I will meet them like a bear that is bereaved of her cubs, |
| and will tear the covering of their heart. |
| There I will devour them like a lioness. |
| The wild animal will tear them. |
| 9You are destroyed, Israel, because you are against me, |
| against your help. |
| 10Where is your king now, that he may save you in all your cities? |
| And your judges, of whom you said, ‘Give me a king and princes’? |
| 11I have given you a king in my anger, |
| and have taken him away in my wrath. |
| 12The guilt of Ephraim is stored up. |
| His sin is stored up. |
| 13The sorrows of a travailing woman will come on him. |
| He is an unwise son; |
| for when it is time, he doesn’t come to the opening of the womb. |
| 14I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. |
| I will redeem them from death! |
| Death, where are your plagues? |
| Sheol, where is your destruction? |
| “Compassion will be hidden from my eyes. |
| 15Though he is fruitful amongst his brothers, an east wind will come, |
| the breath of the LORD coming up from the wilderness; |
| and his spring will become dry, |
| and his fountain will be dried up. |
| He will plunder the storehouse of treasure. |
| 16Samaria will bear her guilt; |
| for she has rebelled against her God. |
| They will fall by the sword. |
| Their infants will be dashed in pieces, |
| and their pregnant women will be ripped open.” |
| 1Israel, return to the LORD your God; |
| for you have fallen because of your sin. |
| 2Take words with you, and return to the LORD. |
| Tell him, “Forgive all our sins, |
| and accept that which is good: |
| so we offer our lips like bulls. |
| 3Assyria can’t save us. |
| We won’t ride on horses; |
| neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, ‘Our gods!’ |
| for in you the fatherless finds mercy.” |
| 4“I will heal their waywardness. |
| I will love them freely; |
| for my anger is turned away from him. |
| 5I will be like the dew to Israel. |
| He will blossom like the lily, |
| and send down his roots like Lebanon. |
| 6His branches will spread, |
| and his beauty will be like the olive tree, |
| and his fragrance like Lebanon. |
| 7Men will dwell in his shade. |
| They will revive like the grain, |
| and blossom like the vine. |
| Their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon. |
| 8Ephraim, what have I to do any more with idols? |
| I answer, and will take care of him. |
| I am like a green cypress tree; |
| from me your fruit is found.” |
| 9Who is wise, that he may understand these things? |
| Who is prudent, that he may know them? |
| For the ways of the LORD are right, |
| and the righteous walk in them; |
| But the rebellious stumble in them. |
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